Specialty tools are useful but can be expensive, especially if used infrequently. Here’s how to save money by building your own.

by Ryan Hoover

In most gunsmithing shops, thrift is key. We all know our tools (at least the good ones) are expensive and our profession doesn’t always provide the means to purchase the myriad specialty tools we need. Even though I’m the owner/operator of a gunsmithing shop (HCP Gunsmithing, hcpgunsmithing.com) and sometimes feel the need to purchase a specialty tool for almost every model of gun that comes through the shop, there is a constant balancing act between new tools needed and whether or not they will pay for themselves. With that attitude in mind, I approached a specific need in my shop for a certain fixture.

I have a Mauser 98 action in my shop that I am building a hunting rifle from. Military Mausers are classic rifles but they almost always need a little TLC before they are ready to build from. One of the operations most needed are truing the locking lugs and cleaning up the bolt face. Volumes have been written on converting Mauser actions by masters far more skilled than I so I won’t go into the details of the particular work except to say it involves turning the bolt on the lathe.

But how to turn it?

Read more in our September 2015 issue.

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